Posted
by
Unknown Lameron Wednesday January 30, 2013 @11:10AM
from the like-openfirmware-only-it-sucks dept.

wehe writes "Heise News reports today some Samsung notebooks can be turned into a brick if booted just one time via UEFI into Linux. Even the firmware does not boot anymore. Some reports in the Ubuntu bug tracker system report that such notebooks can not be recovered without replacing the main board. Other Linux distributions may be affected as well. Kernel developers are discussing a change in the Samsung-laptop driver."
It appears even Samsung is having trouble tracking down the problem (from the article): "According to Canonical's Steve Langasek, Samsung developers have been attempting to develop a firmware update to prevent the problem for several weeks. Langasek is advising users to start Ubuntu installation on Samsung notebooks from an up-to-date daily image, in which the Ubuntu development team has taken precautions to prevent the problem from arising. It is, however, not completely clear that these measures are sufficient."

You might be confusing UEFI with other firmware based software "features"... as Linux supported (U)EFI 2 years before MS did in server products, 8 years before MS did in desktop versions of OS, and 12 years before MS finally got aroudn to supporting it for 32 bit systems. The fact UEFI can include extra things like secure boot isn't a problem of UEFI, but of those that choose to include such an option. The BIOS interface was overdue for being updated/replaced

Not an expert, but my impression is that UEFI is (yet another) bad idea poorly implemented from Intel and a committee of camels.

Exactly how booting an OS can permanently cripple purportedly secure firmware eludes me, but after the past two decades of watching strange ideas become accepted wisdom, I don't find it all that surprising. (OK, OK, I guess bricked is pretty secure. Not very damn useful, but very secure.)